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Podcast: Michel Temer’s Uphill Fight
Also available for download for Apple iOS and Android. Far from over, Brazil’s political crisis will continue to dog Michel Temer, who was installed as Brazil’s interim president on Thursday following the suspension of Dilma Rousseff. “Popularity, it’s a very rare asset these days, not only in Brazil but also in Latin America,” analyst João Augusto de Castro … Read more
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This Week in Latin America: Temer’s Time
Sign up here to get This Week in Latin America delivered to your inbox every Monday. Temer’s Time: It’s the first full week in office for Michel Temer, the interim president of Brazil while Dilma Rousseff is suspended pending a Senate impeachment trial. Temer is expected to today name a new president of the Central Bank after a weekend of consultations with his … Read more
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OAS Human Rights Chief: ‘Galling’ Errors, Obstruction in Case of 43 Missing Mexican Students
As president of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), as well as the group’s rapporteur for Mexico, James Cavallaro has been a driving force behind investigating what happened to the 43 Mexican college students who disappeared in September 2014. And he doesn’t pull punches in saying that the Mexican government failed to cooperate with the IACHR’s … Read more
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After Brazil, Will Venezuela Be Next to Remove Its President?
Throughout Latin America, there is talk about presidential interruptions, again. In the last seven years, four presidents have left office prematurely – Manuel Zelaya in Honduras, Fernando Lugo in Paraguay, Otto Pérez Molina in Guatemala, and now Dilma Rousseff in Brazil. Many analysts think that Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro is next. However, there is good … Read more
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Puerto Rico’s Student Activists See Default as Only Option
Desperate for a lifeline from the U.S. Congress, university students in Puerto Rico are pushing local politicians to take an extreme step – default on their debt. With the island’s fiscal troubles going from bad to worse, student leaders say default on upcoming payments is the only way to force Congress to pass restructuring legislation … Read more
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A Final Defense of Dilma Rousseff
Back in March 2014, when the Petrobras scandal was just getting started, some of President Dilma Rousseff’s top aides saw a golden opportunity to kill the investigation – or at least badly wound it. Márcio Anselmo, the Federal Police deputy in charge of the probe, had given an interview (which can be seen here) to … Read more
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This Week in Latin America: Dilma’s Last Days?
Sign up here to get This Week in Latin America delivered to your inbox every Monday. Rousseff’s Trials: The acting speaker of Brazil’s lower house this morning annulled last month’s impeachment vote against President Dilma Rousseff, throwing into question whether the Senate will vote this Wednesday on the issue, as had been expected. A Senate committee on … Read more
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Podcast: Brazil’s House of Cards Is Falling for Cunha and Rousseff
Also available for download for Apple iOS and Android. Brazil’s house of cards is falling. Eduardo Cunha, the speaker of the lower house of Congress – and third in line to the president – was suspended today for obstructing a corruption investigation, days before Dilma Rousseff herself is expected to be suspended. Reuters’ senior correspondent in Brasília Anthony … Read more
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As Latin America’s Economies Falter, Young Workers Lose Out
This article was updated on May 4. Latin America and the Caribbean are on course for back-to-back years of recession for the first time in 35 years, but the pain isn’t being spread equally. With some of the highest jobless rates of any age group in the region, young Latin Americans have proven particularly vulnerable to … Read more
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This Week in Latin America: Puerto Rico Defaults
Sign up here to get This Week in Latin America delivered to your inbox every Monday. Missed Payment: Puerto Rico will default on most of a $422 million debt payment due today, the largest missed payment so far in the island’s ongoing debt crisis. Governor Alejandro García Padilla on Sunday announced a moratorium on the debt repayment, citing failed restructuring negotiations and the … Read more
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Cómo un nuevo aeropuerto puede ‘transformar el futuro’ de México
Read in English La Ciudad de México está atascada. La capital mexicana, sobrepoblada y hundiéndose, fue nombrada a principios de este año como la ciudad más congestionada del mundo. Esta dudosa distinción no sorprende a nadie, tomando en cuenta que el número de automóviles registrados en el área metropolitana casi se duplicó entre 2005 y … Read more
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Venezuela’s Zika Outbreak May Be 150 Times Worse Than Reported, Study Says
When it comes to the Zika virus’ impact on Venezuela, it’s the government’s word versus Google and Twitter. Based on data gathered in part from the search engine and social network, the watchdog health group Observatorio Venezolano de la Salud (OVS) estimates that nearly 700,000 people have been infected with Zika in Venezuela. That’s around 150 … Read more
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How a New Airport Could ‘Transform the Future’ of Mexico
Leer en español. Mexico City is stuck. Already overcrowded and sinking, the Mexican capital was named earlier this year as the most traffic-congested city in the world. This dubious distinction isn’t surprising, considering that the number of registered cars in the metro area almost doubled from 2005 to 2013. Smog has gotten so bad that authorities implemented … Read more
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This Week in Latin America: Venezuela’s Opposition on the March
Sign up here to get This Week in Latin America delivered to your inbox every Monday. Venezuela Recall Rallies: Venezuela’s political opposition will on Wednesday march to the offices of the National Electoral Council (CNE) to demand the paperwork necessary to hold a referendum to recall President Nicolás Maduro. The CNE has allegedly stalled on the request. Maduro is … Read more
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How Brazil’s Crisis Is Bleeding into the Rest of South America
Until a few years ago, Brazil possessed one of the most active foreign policies in the developing world. It built an impressive network of embassies and consulates, opening more than 60 posts during the 2000s alone in Africa, Asia and beyond. Brazil also actively engaged in debates ranging from humanitarian intervention in Libya to rethinking … Read more